In the 08/05/2025 edition:
The disaster risk news August 2025 indicates a critical rise in environmental hazards. Experts have noted that AI models are being rapidly deployed for early warnings.
Among the key insights from disaster risk news August 2025 are extreme heatwaves in Europe, wildfire escalation in the US, and saltwater intrusion in delta regions.
This edition of disaster risk news August 2025 underlines the importance of investing in resilient infrastructure and international cooperation.
News: The global threat of salt contamination to water supplies
By University of Pennsylvania on Aug 04, 2025 07:06 pm
A new paper published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters warns of an emerging global threat posed by salt contamination of water supplies in tidal rivers worldwide.
News: Your politics, age, and gender predict your disaster readiness
By Grist Magazine on Aug 04, 2025 04:30 pm
Many Americans remain dangerously unprepared for floods, fires, and other natural catastrophes, and their level of readiness is strongly shaped by factors like age, gender, employment status, and past experience with disasters.
News: Heat Adaptive Architecture Design competition (HAAD)
By International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on Aug 04, 2025 01:38 pm
The HAAD competition seeks compelling design submissions that meaningfully address the impacts of extreme heat in cities with innovative, sustainable and affordable structural solutions for the most vulnerable population groups
News: Insurance, equity and nature in England’s changing climate
By London School of Economics and Political Science, the on Aug 04, 2025 01:33 pm
Pranav Shankar Kaundinya and Mariam Parekhelashvili present eight reflections on how flood insurance can be made more equitable as flood risk intensifies in England – and consider how nature might be integrated into the conversation.
News: Empowering African plant protection agencies to combat devastating potato pest
By Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) on Aug 04, 2025 01:31 pm
The project focuses on raising awareness and strengthening the capacity of public and private sector potato value chain organizations to collaboratively address phytosanitary risks of PCN and other emerging pests.
News: The Soviet Union’s secret tsunami
By Conversation Media Group, the on Aug 04, 2025 01:16 pm
July 2025 wasn’t the first time a huge tsunami had hit Kamchatka. In 1952, an even more powerful earthquake hit the same fault line – but it was kept hidden from the world.
News: 5 graphics explain the climate-fire feedback loop
By World Resources Institute on Aug 04, 2025 01:07 pm
Forest fires are a difficult cycle to break: A tiny spark has the potential to transform into a raging fire, exacerbating climate change and making future fires more likely.
News: The tricky problem of ‘zombie’ fires
By Inside Climate News on Aug 04, 2025 01:05 pm
Scientists are investigating the potential link between climate change and a particularly threatening kind of wildfire. These are so-called “zombie fires,” or fires that can survive through the winter months by smoldering underground.
News: Is ‘heat dome’ overhyped? Why some meteorologists dislike this term
By Yale Climate Connections on Aug 04, 2025 11:29 am
Despite popular usage, “heat dome” is not really synonymous for multiday heat waves. A heat wave doesn’t require a dome-like atmospheric setup, and such a setup – a large, stagnant air mass – can actually occur even in the middle of winter.
News: U.S. hurricane forecasters losing critical access to government data
By Context on Aug 04, 2025 10:58 am
With the Atlantic hurricane season underway, U.S. Defense Department does about-face on ending data from three meteorological satellites.
News: Why ‘living heritage’ matters for community-led, post-disaster recovery
By International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) on Aug 04, 2025 10:40 am
Rethinking priorities for post-disaster recovery is essential as the scale, frequency and impact of natural and climate change-related disasters grows.
News: NISAR satellite has launched successfully, leading a new era for Earth observations
By Open Access Government on Aug 04, 2025 09:53 am
The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite will observe nearly all of the planet’s land and ice surfaces every 12 days, making it one of the most comprehensive Earth observation tools ever deployed.
News: Landslide-prone Nepal tests AI-powered warning system
By France 24 on Aug 03, 2025 05:11 pm
Every morning, Nepali primary school teacher Bina Tamang steps outside her home and checks the rain gauge, part of an early warning system in one of the world’s most landslide-prone regions.
News: Why some underwater earthquakes cause tsunamis – and others, just little ripples
By Conversation Media Group, the on Aug 03, 2025 04:56 pm
While the size of sea floor uplift is key to determining how much energy a tsunami begins with, it is the processes that follow that can transform an insignificant tsunami into a devastating wall of water at the shore.
News: The burden of TB amid the climate crisis
By Open Access Government on Aug 03, 2025 04:30 pm
Extreme weather events, the increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance, and other global challenges are impacting the prevalence and fight against tuberculosis.
News: Virtual power plants could transform electricity grids
By Yale Climate Connections on Aug 03, 2025 04:19 pm
The technology lets homes send and receive energy, reducing stress on the grid during peak hours.
News: 15 sources of wildfire smoke forecasts for North America
By Yale Climate Connections on Aug 03, 2025 04:03 pm
Forecasting wildfire smoke is hard. Yale Climate Connections reviews the best tools to help you predict when unhealthful levels of smoke are coming.
News: ODPEM Jamaica launches new earthquake guidelines of places of worship
By Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management on Aug 01, 2025 09:23 pm
This initiative aims to provide leaders and members of Jamaica’s faith-based communities with practical tools to enhance resilience and protect lives and property during an earthquake.
News: QBE Foundation partners with Humanity Insured to help provide affordable insurance and resiliency support to climate-vulnerable communities in Asia
By QBE Insurance Group Ltd. on Aug 01, 2025 09:16 pm
QBE Foundation announced a milestone partnership with Humanity Insured to support inclusion and resiliency among Asia’s most climate-vulnerable communities.
News: Climate change driving major algae surge in Canada’s lakes, study finds
By McGill University on Aug 01, 2025 04:16 pm
For the past 150 years, algae levels have surged in Canadian lakes, even the remote ones, with a sharp spike since the 1960s.
News: Researchers measure a record-setting megaflash
By Arizona State University on Aug 01, 2025 03:54 pm
Satellite-borne lightning detectors in orbit since 2017 have made it possible to continuously detect lightning and measure it accurately at continental-scale distances.
News: Pacific tsunami: modern early warning systems prevent the catastrophic death tolls of the past
By Conversation Media Group, the on Aug 01, 2025 10:53 am
Early warning systems help prevent catastrophic loss of life an property due to tsunamis. Innovations in science and technology give governments vital time to warn and evacuate their people from these potentially destructive natural hazards.
News: Flames to floods: how Europe’s devastating wildfires are fuelling its next climate crisis
By Conversation Media Group, the on Aug 01, 2025 10:36 am
As wildfires in Europe become more intense and frequent, they’re setting off a dangerous chain reaction – one that also includes a rising risk of devastating floods.
News: A global tsunami response: Pacific tsunami alerts follow 29 July 2025 M8.8 Kamchatka earthquake
By United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Jul 31, 2025 05:42 pm
A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula at 23:24 UTC on 29 July, triggering the activation of tsunami warning systems across the Pacific.
News: ‘Sponge city’: How Copenhagen is adapting to a wetter future
By Yale Environment 360 on Jul 31, 2025 04:40 pm
Copenhagen is enacting an ambitious plan to build hundreds of nature-based and engineered projects to soak up, store, and redistribute future floods.
News: Climate change could make ‘droughts’ for wind power 15% longer, study says
By Carbon Brief on Jul 31, 2025 04:24 pm
Extreme “wind droughts” that reduce power output from turbines for extended periods could become 15% longer by the end of the century across much of the northern hemisphere under a moderate warming scenario.
News: NOAA teams up with Zignal Labs to advance storm weather reporting with AI-powered intelligence
By National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Jul 31, 2025 04:16 pm
NOAA partnering through a cooperative research and development agreement, (CRADA), with Zignal Labs on a project to explore how real-time, publicly-available data can improve the precision and timeliness of NOAA’s storm event reporting.
News: Why the Pacific tsunami was smaller than expected – a geologist explains
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jul 31, 2025 01:51 pm
Waves of up to four metres hit coastal towns in Kamchatka near where the earthquake struck, apparently causing severe damage in some areas. But in other places waves have been smaller than expected, including in Japan.
News: How the UK’s cold weather payments need to change to help prevent people freezing in winter
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jul 31, 2025 01:47 pm
The UK government recently expanded the warm home discount by removing restrictions that had previously excluded many people. Now, the payment of £150 will be received by 2.7 million more households than last winter.
News: Climate change has doubled the world’s heatwaves: how Africa is affected
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jul 31, 2025 01:37 pm
A review of extreme heat has found that between May 2024 and May 2025, nearly half the world’s people (49% or 4 billion) suffered through an extra 30 days of temperatures that were hotter than those experienced 90% of the time between 1991 and 2020.
News: Extreme heat: What to know about the deadliest climate risk of our time
By World Economic Forum on Jul 31, 2025 01:34 pm
Extreme heat is the deadliest climate risk of our time. The world must shift to proactive resilience investments in order to mitigate the consequences of extreme heat.
News: Ethnic minorities in England at higher risk of heat-related deaths, says study
By Guardian, the (UK) on Jul 31, 2025 01:26 pm
Research links poor housing, access to cooling and other economic factors to higher mortality rates during heatwaves.
News: A preliminary assessment of WEAs issued for the July 29, 2025 Tsunami
By The Warn Room on Jul 31, 2025 01:23 pm
This article analyses the tsunami early warning messages that were sent out following the Kamtchatka earthquake on July 30, 2025.
News: Climate adaptation and inequality: Lessons from Cape Town’s drought
By VOXEU/ CEPR on Jul 31, 2025 01:16 pm
Focusing on the prolonged drought that Cape Town experienced from 2015 to 2018, this column examines how adaptation shaped outcomes for the city’s residents and for its municipal water utility.
News: Climate change, firms, and aggregate productivity
By VOXEU/ CEPR on Jul 31, 2025 01:09 pm
This column examines both the direct and indirect effects of extreme temperatures on firm performance in Italy, and finds that the economic impact of climate-induced productivity shocks is substantially larger.
News: Uneven vulnerabilities: A global index of climate risk for countries
By VOXEU/ CEPR on Jul 31, 2025 12:54 pm
This column presents new climate risk scores for more than 170 countries, distinguishing between physical and transition risks. The scores reveal that emerging and developing economies are the most exposed to physical risks
News: How global preparedness prevented a tsunami tragedy
By Guardian, the (UK) on Jul 31, 2025 12:48 pm
Years of preparation and global coordination ensured communities from Japan to Hawaii were not caught off guard.
News: Rainy tropics could face unprecedented droughts as an Atlantic current slows
By University of California, Davis on Jul 31, 2025 12:44 pm
Some of the rainiest places on Earth could see their annual precipitation nearly halved if climate change continues to alter the way ocean water moves around the globe.
News: Coastal communities vary widely in climate hazard acknowledgment, study shows
By Drexel University on Jul 31, 2025 12:34 pm
Recent climate-related crises—from severe storms and flooding to extreme heat—have raised new questions about how local governments communicate the risk of these crises and what they are doing to keep their citizens safe.
News: Research into the strength of railway embankments
By Deltares on Jul 31, 2025 12:28 pm
In late July 2025, a train derailed in Germany due to a landslide caused by heavy rainfall. This raises the question: could something like this happen in the Netherlands?
News: Tsunami alert highlights worth of global early warning system
By United Nations News Centre on Jul 30, 2025 11:00 pm
“Tsunami prevention really highlights how important it is to have multilateral action,” said Kamal Kishore in an interview with UN News, commenting on the 30 July magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Russia that triggered a Pacific-wide tsunami alert.
News: Disaster-ready housing starts local, says landmark inquiry
By University of New South Wales on Jul 30, 2025 05:48 pm
With climate disasters on the rise, a report urges governments to rethink housing policy – starting with local leadership, flexible planning, and long-term resilience strategies.
News: Kamchatka earthquake is among top 10 strongest ever recorded. Here’s what they have in common
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jul 30, 2025 05:13 pm
The Pacific region is highly prone to powerful earthquakes and resulting tsunamis because it’s located in the so-called Ring of Fire, a region of heightened seismic and volcanic activity.
News: Why more frequent wildfires and extreme rainfall are a particularly perilous combo
By Union of Concerned Scientists on Jul 30, 2025 05:03 pm
Recurring flash floods highlight the risks of heavy rainfall on previously burned areas. While Ruidoso’s floods are the most recent example, colliding climate hazards threaten communities, ecosystems, and the services that these nature systems provide.
News: The aromatic roots Indians turn to for cooling relief
By Reasons to be Cheerful on Jul 30, 2025 02:32 pm
The traditional use of vetiver grass, or khus, to cool both indoor and outdoor spaces is making a climate-friendly comeback.
News: Pelican Point residents build seawalls despite scepticism of rising sea-level threat
By ABC News on Jul 30, 2025 02:03 pm
Pelican Point residents in Australia have installed seawalls outside their homes despite legal ambiguity about them. A draft version of the council’s coastal adaptation strategy predicts a 50 per cent chance the town will be under water by 2100.
News: How can Germany’s railways become more climate resilient?
By Deutsche Welle on Jul 30, 2025 01:56 pm
Even though trains are the safest and most sustainable mode of transportation, they are vulnerable to extreme weather. What lessons can be learned from the recent train derailment in southern Germany?
News: Tanzanian climate research forecasts weather extremes
By Science and Development Network on Jul 30, 2025 01:48 pm
Extreme wet weather and rising temperatures will likely become the norm for parts of Tanzania, demanding early preparedness and stronger national climate policies to protect vulnerable communities, says a leading meteorologist.
News: AI-powered meteorology supports Early Warnings for All
By World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Jul 30, 2025 01:42 pm
CMA and WMO have co-sponsored a meteorological forum during the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China, to explore the potential of AI to improve forecasts and warnings and protect lives and economies.
News: Research improves accuracy of climate models – particularly for compound extreme events
By North Carolina State University (NCSU) on Jul 30, 2025 01:37 pm
Researchers have devised a new machine learning method to improve large-scale climate model projections and demonstrated that the new tool makes the models more accurate at both the global and regional level.
News: Warmer with a chance of ice: hailstorms could hit Australian cities harder
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jul 30, 2025 01:28 pm
New research from UNSW shows climate change could cause hailstorms to get worse in some of Australia’ s most densely populated cities.
News: Tsunami warnings are triggering mass evacuations across the Pacific – even though the waves look small. Here’s why
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jul 30, 2025 01:13 pm
One of the ten largest earthquakes ever recorded just struck Kamchatka, the sparsely populated Russian peninsula facing the Pacific. The magnitude 8.8 quake had its epicentre in the sea just off the Kamchatka coast.
News: The heat burden on child sports in a warming UK from 1970 to today
By Climate Central on Jul 30, 2025 12:57 pm
This analysis explored how human-caused climate change has affected the likelihood of temperatures above 27°C – when there’s a high risk for heat-related illness – in 240 cities across the United Kingdom.
News: Call for participation: Resilient futures foresight sprint
By United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) on Jul 30, 2025 08:58 am
We invite you to participate in our upcoming Resilience Investment Foresight Sprint, where we will collaboratively develop national foresight scenarios that guide strategic investments in resilience and reduce the risk of disaster.
News: Global data centres face rising climate risks, XDI report warns Landmark analysis of nearly 9000 sites reveals escalating threat to digital infrastructure
By XDI (The Cross Dependency Initiative) – xdi.systems on Jul 29, 2025 09:02 pm
Datacentres—the critical infrastructure powering banking systems, cloud storage, emergency services, communications and logistics—are facing sharply rising risks from climate change-driven extreme weather.
News: Extreme weather affects mental health: what vulnerable women in Kenya told us
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jul 29, 2025 08:31 pm
In a study, researchers sought nuanced insights on the effects of exposure to climate change shocks on depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts. The site of study was the coastal Kilifi region, which is one of Kenya’s poorest areas.
News: European Commission: Call for Evidence on climate resilience
By European Commission on Jul 29, 2025 02:38 pm
Running until 4 September, this call is aimed at getting input from stakeholders and citizens, which will feed into the Commission’s preparations for a new European climate resilience and risk management integrated framework.
News: Lessons on rumoring, style, and consistency from a haz-mat message
By The Warn Room on Jul 29, 2025 02:31 pm
When information is not made clear to message receivers, they fill in the gaps with their own interpretations. This sensemaking activity is called rumoring and its a normal path for people who are trying to understand what is occurring.
News: Innovation meets tradition to transform how Japan prepares for natural disasters
By World Economic Forum on Jul 29, 2025 02:23 pm
A team from Fujitsu and Yokohama National University has become the first in the world to predict these tornadoes spawned by typhoons by combining the supercomputer Fugaku with the innovative Cloud Resolving Storm Simulator (CReSS).
News: The deadliest floods in U.S. history
By Yale Climate Connections on Jul 29, 2025 02:17 pm
The July 4 floods in central Texas rank as the 10th-deadliest flash flood in U.S. history.